These idiots shooting gulls must be caught ...

For the second week in succession we report that a gull has been shot with an air rifle and critically injured.

Nor are these attacks isolated. They form part of a pattern extending from Hastings through to Brighton.

So, what is happening '“ and why?

Gulls are both a joy and something of a curse to a coastal town.

On the wing, especially on the windy days which they seem to love and on whose currents their aerobatics are seen at their most exhilarating, they are a delight to watch.

That joy is somewhat diminished for those unfortunate to have them nesting on their property.

To the mess they cause on cars and windows, to the nuisance they pose to washing hanging on lines, must be added the inevitable noise factor.

Now, at the height of their breeding season, the gulls are at their most raucous. It may be, as visitors are fond of telling us, the "sound of the seaside," but their early-morning alarm call is also the sound of lost sleep.

So is this why someone is taking pot-shots at them?

We think not.

These attacks have all the hallmarks of cruelty for cruelty's sake.

The modern air rifle, especially if equipped with a telescopic sight, is a precision instrument of power and accuracy.

It doesn't take a marksman of outstanding skill and ability to hit a sitting target like an unsuspecting gull.

There is, therefore, neither merit nor logic in these barbaric, illegal and totally pointless attacks.

But did anyone ever think there was?

Even if fired from a window or a back garden, an air rifle is not an inconspicuous object.

Neither, unless well silenced, is it anything like silent.

Someone, somewhere must be seeing and hearing someone shooting at gulls.

They have it on their conscience if they fail to notify police without delay.